PPM to head to 'other relevant institutions' after top court rejects annulment of election

After the Maldives’ top court rejected outgoing President Abdulla Yameen’s petition to annul the September’s election, his party has decided to head to other institutions ‘to seek justice’.

The announcement was made at a press conference on Sunday night, where the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)’s deputy leader and Fonadhoo constituency MP Abdul Raheem Abdulla asserted that the party respects the court’s decision, but that they will ‘continue to seek justice’ over the matter.

He noted that the verdict tells them to go to relevant institutions to investigate these criminal allegations, adding that ‘this opens an important door’ for the party.

Noting that the Supreme Court’s verdict has only boosted their drive, Raheem said that they will be filing a case at the police seeking to investigate the ‘various criminal allegations’ regarding the election.

Assuring supporters that PPM will not stop seeking justice, MP Raheem said that they will also be going to the relevant institutions regarding corruption allegations.

However, the court had ruled that there was no legal barrier to seek investigation of corruption or other irregularities.

While PPM intends to seek justice ‘using all necessary means’, legal experts note that following Supreme Court’s ruling ‘there is no room’ to annul the September 23 election.

Raheem also claimed that the reason for the difference in votes- Opposition’s Ibrahim Mohamed Solih received 134,705 votes while Yameen received 96,052 votes- was due to electoral fraud. One of the main reasons the petition was rejected was due to their failure to provide evidence regarding these allegations.